Review: Spitfire Audio Albion – Get it before it’s gone!

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Hey what’s good fam!

Got a review of Spitfire Audio’s Albion, their original epic hybrid library for composers and sound designers.

The library is actually being retired at the end of this month (September 2015) and as such, they are having a huge discount sale on it.

I thought it would be a great time to show this library off as I know many love the Albion sound but the budget may not agree with our tastes at the time 😉

The current price brings it into a very affordable range for such a high end library, so I wanted to make sure you heard it and knew what it was about before it was gone.

So let’s dig in!

What is Albion?

AlbI_Albion_2D_Lo-ResI may be wrong, but Albion the first huge “flagship” style library from Spitfire.

It’s aimed at epic ensemble music, covering strings, brass, winds as well as percussion.

In addition to that, they also have some cool hybrid instruments in the “Steam Band” that give you great organic atmospheres, pads, drones, and more.

The goal is to provide everything you would need to write epic cinematic music, no matter if you’re a student getting started, a pro looking for a new tool, or a producer looking to add some realistic orchestral elements to your tracks.

It’s literally one of those libraries that “sounds like the movies” but it has such a unique character that sets it apart from the other “Hollywood” style libraries.

Quick Specs

How does it sound?

Reel to Reel Tape RecorderI’m a fan of Spitfire, not just because they make their libraries easy to use (names like short, long, hi, low go a long way for a guy like me!) but the sound is just pleasing to the ears.

It’s hard to describe but there is a warm, round, organic vibe to their libraries and they way they record them in terms of capturing the players gives a very realistic playing experience.

They will leave in the random “bad note” as played, or sometimes notes may be a little late, just those slight imperfections you get when working with humans over machines….but that’s what gives it such a great feel. They don’t do it in a cheesy way or in a way that sounds bad at all, I dig it, and personally I feel their whole approach to recording, even tracking to 2 inch tape, allows the library to be at home in an epic score or a contemporary production just as equally.

The orchestral ensembles are great, very dynamic with plenty of flexibility to adjust to your own tastes. I was surprised by the extra stuff like the Steam Band, there are some really great atmospheres, drones, and pad like sounds that were derived from their orchestral sessions.

Those instruments have such great texture and it allows them to fit in well with the rest of the library. The percussion and the crazy Brunel Loops are useful as well, especially the way you can morph between the loops and even add and sequence fx on top of them.

So yes, it sounds great!

What’s the bottom line?

Spitfire is one of those companies that remains at the top of the wishlist for many people, especially if you’re at all into orchestral libraries.

4andhalfsubsI give Albion 4.5 out of 5 subs, it just sounds amazing, is flexible, and is a creative breath of fresh air when it comes to orchestral compositional tools. 

This library has been highly regarded for years and there’s no question as to why, it’s a great collection of inspiring instruments.

Spitfire definitely makes  professional products for professional users and sometimes that puts the libraries out of budget for some people.

With the retirement price of Albion now is a great time and opportunity to add such a high quality collection of orchestral tools to your library.

Like I said, what I love so much is just the overall character, it really makes it useful for more than just epic film scores, even though that’s what it’s inteded for.

The organic texture of their libraries allow it to fit into any situation without sticking out like a sore thumb.

Go on over and read up on it: http://www.spitfireaudio.com/albion

If you’re interested make sure to grab your copy before it’s gone!

Leave me a comment below and let me know what you think

8 Comments

  1. I Feel completely ripped off !!! They didn’t retire this, they upgraded it . Available by the end of the month the new albion one will cost me more to cross-grade if I don’t buy it now than if I just ignored you’re advice and bought the new one whenever.
    New Albion 1- $484
    Old I just got – $229
    Crossgrade now-$225
    Crossgrade after nov 1-$302

    This stuff isn’t cheap and I really have loved you saintjoe, God bless you ,
    but you’ve fallen from grace down to the plugin guru level .
    O once divine saintjoe !
    it’s not about the money, but how the music flows !!!

    Reply
    • So you blame me for sharing a good deal on a library that they ended up replacing with a new product? Not sure how it’s my fault lol, all I saw was the retirement price. Usually when something is retired or liquidated it is replaced with something newer. Many viewers even commented as to what could be coming next. I didn’t know about the new one personally but I’m not surprised. I’m certainly not divine by any means hahahahaha. As for being “about the money”, I don’t get anything from you making a purchase with them, nor do I work for them. Just shared what I thought was a good deal on a classic library. Oh…and Plugin Guru is a great guy!

      Reply
      • I can only blame myself. You’ve helped me decide whether to buy or not a dozen times and I thank you. Spitfire makes great stuff regardless of somewhat shifty marketing.I was saving for albion 4 but it’s not going anywhere. All is well.
        Anyway, you’re human , I’m human , so is plugin guru, humans in a world full of amazing audio adventures to get into and I want to enjoy all of it. You’re still my goto reviewer saintjoe .
        I know you like musicbox stuff have you heard this one – http://dreamelodic.wix.com/aviramdayan#!music-box/c1gq5
        I thought it had a good sound to it.
        Take Care

        Reply
        • It’s all good man, I enjoy the conversation as always. I agree it would have been good to know about the coming update, I’ve seen others do that, where they will discount something and let you know you’ll get a discount on the new version or something like that. I guess most figured something would have to be replacing it eventually (maybe not the very next month but hey..lol) Still a great library either way, and it seems like the “whole” thing won’t be in whatever this new one is, only the “best hits” so to speak. I could be wrong, not much info on it just yet. And I do love a great music box man LOL.

          Reply

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